“Hotel Transylvania” opens early at Toronto fest

Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Hotel Transylvania” and the 3D version of “Finding Nemo” will both have their world premieres during the TIFF Kids program of the 37th Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from September 6 to 16.

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters — Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more — to celebrate his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem — but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis.

A considerable portion of animation on Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania was completed out of the newly-expanded Sony Pictures Imageworks offices in Vancouver.

The general release date for Hotel Transylvania is September 28.

Meanwhile, also as part of TIFF Kids, Academy Award-winning film Finding Nemo returns to the big screen in thrilling Disney Digital 3D for the first time ever.

Teeming with memorable comedic characters and heartfelt emotion, this stunning underwater adventure follows the momentous journey of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his young son Nemo (Alexander Gould) –– who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef when Nemo is unexpectedly taken far from his ocean home to a fish tank in a dentist’s office. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son –– who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home.

All films are rated. Special child pricing applies. Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET weekdays at (416) 599-TIFF or 1-888-599-8433, or by visiting the box office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

And the partly animated Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, byBrad Bernstein, will have its North American premiere as part of the TIFF Docs lineup.

Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story depicts one man’s wild, life-long adventure of testing societal boundaries through his use of subversive art. This film combines traditional documentary storytelling with original animation from over 70 years worth of art from the renegade children’s book author and illustrator. Featuring Tomi Ungerer, Maurice Sendak, Jules Feiffer, Steven Heller and Michael Patrick Hearn.

“There is great satisfaction in discovering films from new voices in non-fiction filmmaking,” said Thom Powers, lead TIFF programmer for documentaries. “Some of the most powerful stories being told are from these bold and original emerging filmmakers whose work stands strongly side by side documentary filmmaking greats Alex Gibney and Ken Burns.”

“We cannot wait to present the lineup of Canadian and international documentaries with Festival audiences and the industry,” said Cameron Bailey, the festival’s artistic director. “The diversity of subject and calibre of the films is a testament to the great non-fiction work being done in our country and abroad.”